Conductor protector



March 21, 1939. R. R. PITTMAN ET AL 2,151,525

CONDUC TOR PROTECTOR Filed July 27, 1938 mvzm-oag @41/ Q? m M M MA/d1 Patented Mar. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES CONDUCTOR PROTECTOR,

Ralph E. Pittman and Carroll H. Walsh, Pine Bluff, Ark.

Application July 2'7, 1938, Serial No. 221,537

6 Claims.

This invention relates to conductor protectors particularly suitable for use with wire-tapping clamps, for the purpose of avoiding damage to the conductor from arcing, burning or pitting, and further to avoid mechanical damage resulting from excessive pressure applied to the conductor while in contact with relatively harder portions of the tap clamp.

Among the objects of the present invention may be noted improvements upon the conductor protector shown in our Patent No. 2,107,061, dated February 1, 1938, The conductor protector therein disclosed serves well its purpose of protecting the conductor, but we have found that, upon removal of the clamp, the protector may slide along the conductor. It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a conductor protector embodying means for holding itself in position when the clamp is removed.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conductor protector having a pair of opposed conducting strips held in an open position for receiving a conductor, and means responsive to a force urging the strips together for releasing the strips from the held position, and resilient means for clamping the conductor between the strips following their release.

While we have illustrated our conductor protector as it may be used with a tap clamp, it is a further object to provide a protector embodying clamping means independent of the tap clamp, so that it may be used as an individual unit without the tap clamp for protecting, as may be desired, a portion of a conductor subject to arcing.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the novel form, arrangement and combination of the parts of the device, and the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview of the protector, shown in the open position; Fig, 2 is an 'end elevational view of the protector, again in the open position, and in place on a tap clamp; and Fig. 3 shows an end elevational view of the conductor with the protector mounted thereon.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, a pair of opposed longitudinally extending strips of conducting material IO and I I, having concavely formed inner surfaces in face-to-face relationship, are pivotally connected together at one adjacent pair of longitudinally extending edge portions by means of the hinge pin I5, and the encircling portions I2 of the strip It, and I3 and I l of the strip II.

The hinge pin I5 is extended beyond the portion I4, and a spring I6 encircles the extended 5 portion, the respective ends of the spring i6 engaging the outer surfaces of the strips it! and It so as to continually bias the strips to a closed or folded position.

To prevent closing of the strips, until this condition is desired, a flat arcuate- U-shaped member 51 is fitted thereon, disposed in a plane normal to those in which the strips are positioned, and having a pair of spaced hooked portions i9 and 20 at the respective ends of the member H, for receiving the respective unjoined longitudinally extending edge portions of the strips Id and il, thereby holding the strips in an open or unfolded position. To complete the assembly into a uni tary structure, the hinge pin I5 is preferably extended through the member Il, and the end of the pin upset to retain the member I1 thereon.

Fig. 2 illustrates the conductor protector as it may be used with a tap clamp, the particular tap clamp shown being similar to that described in our copending application Serial No. 212,9 i3, filed June 10, 1938. It may be seen that the clamp, fitted with the protector, is in position to be adjusted to the clamped position for compressing the conductor 2| by rotating the threaded member 24 with respect to the body portion 22, tothereby electrically connect the tap Wire 25 to the conductor 2!. As the shoe 23 of the tap clamp is moved upwardly in response to suitable rotation of the eye screw 24, the strips ID and 35 I I are urged toward one another, andtheir movement in this direction restrained by the engagement of the hooked portions I 9 and 2B of the member I! with the strips Ill and II respectively. Preferably, the hooked portion 20 is purposely constructed to be more readily deformed than the portion I9, so that, as the clamping shoe 23 continues its upward movement, the hooked portion 20 is bent out of the path of movement of the lower strip II. Immediately thereafter, the spring It acts to compress the conductor 2i between the strips IQ and I I, the elements then ass'uming the position indicated in Fig. 3.

It will be clear that the conductor protector, following its application as above described, will remain in position and clamped to the conductor following the removal of the tap clamp. While we have illustrated a tap clamp as a convenient tool for applying the protector to the conductor, it

will also be apparent that any equivalent means might be used for this purpose.

The drawing and description herein are intended as illustrative, and various modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It will therefore be understood that our invention is to be limited only as is necessitated by the prior art, and the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A conductor protector comprising a pair of longitudinally extending strips of conducting material having opposed concave surfaces arranged to receive a longitudinally extending portion of a conductor therebetween, hinge means joining one longitudinally extending edge portion of one strip to the adjacent longitudinally extending edge portion of the other strip, resilient means urging said strips toward each other, means at the other adjacent edge portions of said strips for holding the strips in spaced-apart relation so that a conductor may be positioned between said strips, and for releasing the strips in response to a compressive force in excess of that exerted by said resilient means and in a direction to urge said other adjacent edge portions toward one another.

2. A conductor protector comprising a pair of strips of conducting material disposed in face-toface relationship for receiving a conductor therebetween, hinge means including a hinge pin joining one longitudinally extending edge portion of one strip to that of the other, an arcuate member fastened to said hinge pin and arranged to hold the other longitudinally extending edge portions of said strips in spaced-apart relation, and a spring encircling said hinge pin and arranged to bias said other longitudinally extending edge portions toward each other, said arcuate member being arranged to release the strips in response to a compressive force in excess of and in the same direction as that exerted by said resilient means.

3. A conductor protector comprising a pair of strips of conducting material having opposed concave surfaces arranged in face-to-face relationship for receiving a conductor therebetween, hinge means including a hinge pin joining one longitudinally extending edge portion of one strip to the adjacent longitudinally extending edge portion of the other strip, an arcuate member fastened to said hinge pin and arranged to hold the other longitudinally extending edge portions of said strips in spaced-apart relation, and resilient means arranged to urge said other longitudinally extending edge portions one toward the other, said arcuate member being arranged to release the strips in response to a compressive force in excess of and in the same direction as that exerted by said resilient means.

4. A conductor protector comprising a pair of oppositely disposed strips of conducting material having opposed concave surfaces arranged in face-to-face relationship, means joining one pair of adjacent edge portions of said strips, resilient means exerting a compressive force tending to move the other pair of adjacent edge portions toward one another to provide a conductor-engaging position, and a member interposed in the path of movement of said other pair of adjacent edge portions for holding the latter in spacedapart relationship, said member having a portion thereof in said path of movement which is movable from said path in response to a compressive force in excess of that exerted by said resilient means, to allow said resilient means to move said strips one toward the other.

5. A conductor protector comprising a pair of conducting strips movable from an open position for receiving a conductor therebetween to a closed position for engaging the conductor, holding means maintaining the members in the open position, and resilient means urging the members to the closed position, said holding means being arranged to release said strips in response to a force in excess of and in the same direction as that exerted by said resilient means.

6. A conductor protector comprising a pair of conducting strips movable from an open to a closed position, holding means maintaining the strips in the open position so that a conductor may be interposed therebetween, said holding means being arranged to release said strips in response to force urging said strips to the closed position, and resilient means maintaining said strips in the closed position and in engagement with the interposed conductor following their release.

RALPH R. PITTMAN. CARROLL H. WALSH. 

